Jenkins's usual use of high adventure and unpredictable love is at play in this story about Tom Douten, a gritty Chicago journalist, who isn't afraid to investigate the truth about life in the inner city, and his new lover, Noella, an optimistic writer who believes in Santa. When Jenkins flies to the Black Forest to investigate the "truth" about Santa and dispel Noella's belief, his plane crashes, killing the pilot and his fellow passenger. Jenkins keeps the story fast-moving in his terse, straightforward style. Nonetheless, he manages to plot an intricate enough course, so that the final revelations are surprising, and as satisfying as plum pudding at the end of a Christmas feast